Pyrophoric cigar-lighter



J. H. COHEN PYROPHOR IC CIGAR LIGHTER March 20, 1934.

Filed Feb. 8, 1929.

INVENTOR. Jasqafifl 602mm, By @L... ORNEY manna n... 20, 934

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE This invention relates to pyrophoric cigarlighters, which, as heretofore provided, are of three general types, having reference to the mode or means for operating them. In one type, the

wick igniting spark is produced by manual rotation of the abrading wheel; in another, me-,

yet avoid the use or need of the manually operated lever or chain of the second type above referred to, or the operating spring with its manually releasable catch of the third of these types.

This is accomplished, according to the present invention, by causing the mechanical means for operating the abrading wheel to be actuated as the result of bodily movement of the cigar-lighter.

In the particular embodiment of the invention herein described and shown, it is accomplished by connecting the mechanical means for operating the abrading wheel to a member having such mass or weight that when the cigar-lighter, while held in the hand preparatory for use, is jerked forwardly, as by a flip of the hand, the mechanical means will be actuated by the momentum or inertia of the said member; and this member may,

and preferably does, constitute the snufier cap for the wick.

By the provision of such'means, the construction of the cigar-lighter. is simplified and thus may be more economically manufactured, and

in operation it is greatly improved, for a mere flip of the hand is all that is needed to uncover the wick and produce the, spark, and a similar flip of the hand in the other direction is all that made in accordance with the present invention, showing it .held in the hand ready for use.

Fig. 2 is in part a longitudinal section taken on the line 2-2 Fig. '7.

Fig. 3 is in part a longitudinal section taken on the line 3=-3 Fig. 7. i

Fig. 4 is in part a longitudinal section, at righangles to those of Figs. 2 and 3, taken on the line 4-4 Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is similar to Fig. 4, but taken on the line 5-5 Fig. 3. 1

Fig. 6 is a bottom plan view of the pivoted snuifer cap. v

Fig. 7 is a plan view of the cigar-lighter with the snuffer cap removed.

Fig. 8 is a view on an enlarged scale of the operating parts of the cigar-lighter.

In appearance, the pyrophoric cigar-lighter shown herein is like the electric cigar-lighter shown in my Design Patent #71173, October .5th, 1926. It has a base 10 provided with a stem or standard 11 for supporting a reservoir 12 filled with cotton or other absorbent material 13. The reservoir 12 is made of two parts, a lower part 14 and an upper part 15, the former being cupshaped and the latter being annular and having an end wall or deck 16 for supporting the operating parts of the lighter. The parts 14 and 15 of the reservoir 12 have screw-threads 1'? by means of which they are connected together.

The end wall or deck 16 of the cigar-lighter is provided with cheeks 18, see Figs. 1, 4, and 7, between which the spark-producing means are located and on which a shaft 19 for the latter is supported by means of trunnion pins 19a driven in the cheek 18, as shown in Fig. 4.

This spark-producing mechanism comprises an abrading wheel 20 rotatably mounted on the shaft 19 and driven in one direction with the rotation of the shaft by a pawl 21 carried in a slot 22 in the shaft 19 and normally urged by a spring 23' against a portion of the inner surface of the abrading wheel which is provided with teeth 24 cooperating with the pawl., The shaft 19 has secured to it a pinion 25 adapted to mesh with a segmental gear or rack 26 pivoted on a shaft 27 carried by the deck 16 of the lighter. The abrading wheel is provided with serrations or teeth 27a adapted, when the wheel is rotated, to scratch against a flint 28 carried by a flint guide 29 and normally urged against the wheel by an arm 30 pivoted on the shaft 27 and having another arm 31 engaged by a compression spring 32 backed by a ledge 33 on the-deck 16, as shown in Fig. 2. 110

Thus, when the segmental gear 26 is moved upwardly, i. e. in the direction of arrow a shown in Fig.8, the pinion 25 is turned counter-clockwise and this causes the teeth 27a on the abrading wheel 20 to produce sparks by scratching against the flint 28. The sparks then fly toward the left, as viewed in Fig. 8, toward a wick 34 projecting from a wick-tube 35 supported by the deck 16. The lower end of the wick 34 enters the reservoir 12 and there comingles with the cotton or other fuel absorbing material 13. The sparks produced by the rotation of the spark wheel thus ignite the wick 34.

The structure of the spark-producing means above described, including the rack 26, is disclosed in the patent to Fritz Hofmann, #1,086,175, February 3, 1914.

In this patent, however, the rack 26 is normally spring urged to move in the direction of arrow (1 shown in Fig. 8, and is restrained from so doing by the manually releasable catch. With this patented arrangement, it is therefore necessary for the user to re-tension the spring by closing the cover to which the rack is attached before the spark wheel can again be operated by the manual release of the catch.

As stated above, the present invention obviates the need of the catch and the spring tensioning of the rack in the type of device shown in said Patent #1,086,175, and also obviates the need of providing any other manually operated fingerpiece lever or chain for actuating the mechanical operated spark-producing means, as shown in other patents. This object is accomplished, in the form of the invention herein shown, by providing a substantial heavy weight pivotally mounted on the cigar-lighter and connected with the rack so that the rack will be operated by the inertia or momentum of this weight member.

In the form of the invention herein shown, this weight member is constituted by a cover 36 which, as shown, is made substantially heavy, in fact much heavier than would be needed to perform its function as a cover. The weight member 36 is hinged on the shaft 2'7 carried by the deck 16 and is annular in form so that its peripheral edge 37 substantially coincides with the upper surface of the deck 16. The cap is gouged out to form a chamber 39 in which the flint guide 29 and arm 30 are located, and also a chamber 40 which closely surrounds the wick 34 when the cap is in closed position, and which snuffs out the fia'me in moving to closed position. The cover 36 is fastened by a screw 41 to a laterally extending arm 42 of the segmental gear 26 so that the rack will move in unison with the cover when the latter is swung open and closed.

To operate the cigar-lighter of the present invention, it is grasped in the hand similar to the manner shown in Fig. 1 and quickly moved with a flip or snap action of the hand so that, because of the weight of the cover 36, the latter will swing on the shaft 27 upon which it is hinged. In so doing, it carries with it the rack 26 and this in turn rotatesthe pinion 25 and spark wheel 20 and causes the wick 34 to be ignited. The cover 39 is free at all times to be so moved by its own weight or inertia as a result of the rapid bodily movement of the cigar-lighter and is unrestrained by anything other than the operating mechanism of the spark-producing means, the movement of which, of course, constitutes the work to be performed by the cover in opening.

To extinguish the flame and again condition the cigar-lighter for repeated use, it is merely necessary for the user to jerk the cigar-lighter while held in the hand in the other direction, causing the cover to be swung down on the deck 16 and the flame to be extinguished by the snuffing chamber 40.

It will therefore be seen that in the use of the cigar-lighter of the present invention, there is no button or other device to be thought of and operated by the user, and it is merely necessary to pick up the device and shake it in one direction to ignite the wick and in the other direction, or in the reverse manner, to extinguish the flame. And, should the sparks fail to ignite the wick at the first operation of the lighter, the cover may be quickly closed and again opened by jerking the hand first in one direction and then in the other.

Of course, the hinge connection between the cover 39 and the deck 16 of the cigar-lighter may be utilized to limit the opening movement of the cover if desired. However, it is considered preferable at present to accomplish this by providing a lug 43 on the pinion 25 which, when the cover has been opened the proper amount, engages a ledge 44 on the deck 16 and thus limits the movement of the segmental gear 26 and the cover 39 to which it is secured.

As regards the broader aspects of this invention, the details of construction of the operating mechanism may be of any suitable design. However, the construction shown is particularly advantageous since it is simple to make and positive in operation. One of these advantageous details of construction is the arrangement and mounting of the flint guide 29. This guide, in the form shown, is made of sheet metal and has two branches 45 and 46, see Fig. 8. The branch 45 is bent at its upper end to form a chamber for the flint and the end of the branch 45 is perforated to fit the shaft 27, while at the junction of the branches the flint guide is perforated to receive the trunnion pin 19a, and thus the flint guide is supported by the shafts 27 and trunnion pin 190.. In assembling the device, the junction of the branches 45 and 46 is inserted between the spark wheel 20 and the cheek 18 and the end of the branch 45 is inserted between the bearing 4'7 for the shaft 27 and the arm 30, which, it will be remembered-forces the flint 28 against the spark wheel 20.

In order that the reservoir 12 may be completely closed and yet utilize as much of the space in the part 15 of the device as possible the deck 16 has webs 49 to provide chambers in which the spark wheel 20 and the mechanical operating mecha- 130 nism, including the pinion 25 and the segmental rack 26, lie.

The reservoir 12 may be filled with fuel through an orifice 50 in the deck 16 so that the liquid fuel may flow into the reservoir 12 and be ab- 135 sorbed by the material 13. This orifice is closed by a screw-threaded stopper 51.

Variations and modifications may be made within the scope of this invention and portions of the improvements may be used without others. 140

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and for which it is desired to obtain Letters-Patent, is:

1. A pyrophoric cigar-lighter having sparkproducing means; mechanical operating means 145 therefor; and means operated by the momentum for actuating said mechanical operating means to cause the spark-producing means to operate.

2. A pyrophoric cigar-lighter having sparkproducing means; mechanical operating means therefor; and a weighted member operated by momentum for actuating said mechanical operating means to cause the spark-producing means tooperate.

3. A pyrophoric cigar-lighter having sparkproducing means; mechanical operating means therefor; and means responsive to a rapid bodily movement of the cigar-lighter in its entirety through space for actuating said mechanical operating means.

- 4. A pyrophoric cigar-lighter having sparkproducing means; mechanical operating .means therefor; andia member movably mounted on the cigar-lighter and movable as the result of a rapid bodily movementof the cigar-lighter in its entirety through space for actuating said mechanical operating means to cause the spark-producing means to operate.

5. A pyrophoric cigarelighter having sparkproducingmeans; mechanical operating means therefor; a cover for the cigar-lighter pivotally mounted thereon, mechanically unbiased, and free at all times to be swung relative thereto in opening direction as the result of rapid bodily movement of the cigar-lighter in its entirety through space; and means operated by the cover when moved in opening direction for actuating the mechanical operating means to cause the spark-producing means to operate.

6. A pyrophoric cigar-lighter having sparkproducing means, operating means and wick; a

snufier cap forthe wick hinged to said body,

mechanically unbiased, and free at all times for swinging movement; and connecting means between the snuifer cap and the mechanical operating means for actuating the latter when the can is given a swinging movement to uncover the wick, as the result of rapid bodily movement of the cigar-lighter in its entirety through space.

7. A pyroph'oric cigar-lighter having a body; spark-producing means thereon; means on the body including a pinion for operating said sparkproducing means; a pivotally mounted rack for operating said pinion; and a member secured to said rack and so increasing the mass or weight thereon that when the body is jerked forwardly the inertia of the member causes the rack to be operated to rotate said pinion.

8. A pyrophoric cigar-lighter having a spark producing wheel; a pinion for operating said spark-producing wheel; a shaft on which said wheel and pinion are journalled; a segmental actuating rack for rotating said pinion; a shaft on which the rack is journalled; and a flint guide supported in operative position relative to said wheel by the shaft for said wheel and the shaft for said rack.

9. A pyrophoric cigar-lighter having a sparkproducing wheel; a pinion for operating .said spark-producing wheel; a shaft on which said wheel and pinion are journalled; a segmental actuating rack for rotating said pinion; a shaft on which the rack is journalled; and a flint support having two arms, one of said arms having a hole receiving the shaft for the wheel, and the other arm having a hole receiving the shaft for the rack.

10. A pyrophoric cigar-lighter having a body; spark-producing means; operating means therefor; and a member pivotally mounted on said body and connected to said operating means and having suflicient mass or weight so that when the body is jerked forwardly .the inertia of the member causes the operating means to be oper ated.

11. Acigar lighter comprising a base, a spark producing element positioned upon the base, and means comprising a weighted member operatively associated with the element.

12. A cigar lighter comprising a base, a combustible element and spark producing means positioned on the base, and weighted means'operatively associated with the spark producing means to ignite the combustible element.

13. A cigar lighter comprising a base, a combustible element and spark producing means on the base, weighted means operatively associated with-the spark producing. means to ignite the combustible element upon movement of the.

weighted means in one direction and to extinguish the element upon movement of the same means in the opposite direction.

JOSEPH H. COHEN. 

